Bottling-machine.



F. W. H. CLAY.

BOTTLING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 2a, 1915.

Patented J 11116 20, 1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

F. W. H. CLAY.

BOTTLING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 28. 19|5.

3 SHEETS lNVENTOW Patented June 20 WITNESSES F. W. H. CLAY.

BOTTLING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 28,1915. 1 1 Patcntedlnno 20, 1916.

3 5HEETS--SHEET 3.

INVENTQW WITNEESES M Mm FRANCIS W. H. CLAY, OF EDGEWOOD PARK. PENNSYLVANIA.

BOTTLING-MACHINE.

]l .isaolel.

Application filed July 28, 1915.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Fiuxcis W. H. CLAY, a citizen of the United States, residing at lldgcwood Park, in the State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bottling-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates generally to bottling apparatus and more especially to machines for closing the mouths of receptacles filled under pressure, and still more particularly to machines for using metallic bottle caps of any form, such as those illustrated in my United States Patent No. 862,308, of August 6, 1907.

The principal objects of the invention are to render more easy and accurate thefilling of bottles and placing of such stoppers by automatic means; to provide for introducing a stopper cap into a chamber under pressure, and to generally improve the construction and operation of bottle filling and bottle capping machines.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which,

Figure 1 is a side elevatiombroken. and condensed in a vertical direction and showing the entire machine; Fig. 1 is a partial rear elevation of certain details of the up-- per part of the machine in Fig. 1; Fig. 2 is a top plan of the machine with certain parts removed and showing a section of other parts; Fig. 3 is a partial vertical section along the line marked (3-4:) in Fig. 1' showing the operation of simultaneously filling the bottle and receiving'the cap from the outside; Fig. 4 is a similar section with the cap receiving part reversed in position ready for capping the bottle; Fig. 5 is a vertical section at right angles to those of Figs. 3

"and 4, being on the line (5) in Fig. 3 and showing in section the lower part of the cap holder in elevated position. Fig. 6 is a partial central vertical section. along the same, plane as that of Fig. 5, and on the line marked (6) 1n Fig. 10, showlng part of the lifting mechanism for the bottle; Fig. 7 isadetail plan view and'section of a retainingring and post shown in Flg. 6 for supporting the bottle; Fig. 8 is a side elevation .of the cam in Fig. 6 and its supporting shaft; Fig. '9 is a cross section of the machine frame along the line (9) in Fig. 1; Fig. 10 is a horizontal section on the line (10) in Fig. 1.; and Fig. 11 is a vertical section of the cylinder (26) in Fig. 1.

Specification of Letters Patent.

latcntcd June 20. MM ll.

Serial No. 4.2,296.

Heretofore'it has been customary to place metallic bottle caps upon bottles by means of machines in which the stoppers are fed to the placing tool by means of selectors and guiding chutes and put them in place in caps were fed automatically into a closed chamber under pressure. Usually the stop per has been inserted in the placing tool by hand, after which the head of the bottle was sealed in a closed chamber'for introduction of the liquid andgas, and after this the stopperwas placed on the bottle after the liquid supply had been cut off.

One of the important functions of my invention is to introduce a stopper into the closed filling chamber automatically and after the filling has been accomplished.

Another important feature of the invention is means for elevating the bottle to bring a proper pressure on the stopper to close the same with av definite and constant pressure on they stopper, and particularly to perform this function by the agency of a constantly revolving power shaft.

The broad feature of what may be called a feeding valve, having the double function of introducing the'liquid to the bottle under pressure, and also the stoppers into the compression filling chamber ready to be applied, is an important feature not dependent upon the other features of the machine.

The machine shown in the drawings is merely a simplified form used for illustration of the invention, and many parts are purposely made in crude and simple form in order to avoid confusion.

The first function to be performed, is to lift the empty bottles (which may be of variant heights) to a substantially constant posi: tion in the capping apparatus; the second is to fill the bottle with the fluid; the third is to correctly place the metal cap in position over the mouth of the bottle, and the fourth is to induce the relatively heavy pressure and small motion-necessary to fix the cap on the bottle.

In the drawing I show an upright frame loo bottle caps. In the top ofthe base 15 is a vertically reciprocating platform 19 for supporting the bottom of the bottle B. This platform 19, as shown more clearly in Figs.

platform meets a certain predetermined re- 6 and 7, is carried on a stem 51 which may freely slide in an upward direction in the large sleeve 50, and sliding through the clutch ring 52 as it goes upward, but preented from moving downward relative to thering 52 by reason of the peculiar shape of the latter and it being pivotally supported by its shank 53 at one. side and held in normal gripping position by spring 54. When the bottle is placed on the platform 19 it may be lifted in any convenient manner. as

by' the'action of the spring 28 shown in Fig.

1. operating on the foot treadle lever 27 v which in turn engages the foot 58 of a rod 56 carrying a bracket 55 engaging the platform 19. The rod 56 may rise until the sistance, as it will do when the top of the bottle B strikes the cap placing mechanism as shown in Figs. 3 and 5, and after this any further upward motion of rod 56 will be accommodatedby the compression of coil spring 57 which supports the bracket 55. \Vhatever the height of the bottle may have been, the platform 19 will now be locked against return by the gripping ring 52, and at a height which is just suflicient for a certain predetermined amount of further liftingto fixthe metal cap on the bottle, as will hereafter be described.

I as

drical rotating member 22 which may be called a valve because it introduces both the fluid. and the cap into the closed chamber underneath it asshown in Figs. 3, 4 and 5. The rotating cylinder 22 has a stem 23 extending backward through the frame 16 as shown in Figs. 1 and 1 and carries a fixed pinion 24 which cooperates with the vertically reciprocating rack bar 25 to turn the valve cylinder from the position shown in Figs 3 and 5 to that shown in Fig. 4.

The rack bar 25 is attached to the foot 'treadle lever 27 through the agency of a friction clutch 26 (Fig. 11) to allow of extra play of lever27, and is pushed upward by the spring 28 operating on lever 27 until the valve head 22 is turned to the position shown in Fig. 5. At the latter part of its upwardmotion, the rack bar 25, by means of an upward extension 29 thereon, moves the lever 30 pivoted to a bracket 30? so that it v depresses the hub 31 riding on a pin 33 and against the spring 32, so as to lower the arm 34 and circular head 35carrying cap supply ring-18, thus lowering the'tube .18'and the contained pile of caps S (Fig. 5) until one of the caps comes in the position shown in Fig. 5. .There may be several of the arms cal valve head 22 has on one side a. conical opening and a cylindrical cross borefilled by the screw plug 39 which has attached to it a permanentmagnet 40 resting on elastic cushion 40 and extending through a rocker ring 38 and a placing ring 37 held loosely in the position shown by the shape of the opening-for the plug 39. The cap S being lowered into contact with the poles of the magnet 40, forms an armature and will be held in position as shown in Fig. 5, and is thus entirely inclosed within the rotating valve head 22. In this position of the said valve headthe passage 44, 45, through which liquid and gas is introduced, is in position to fill the bottle B and the bottle head may be sealed in the chamber under this port by an expansible hollow rubber ring 41, conveniently distended at this time by being filled ,wlth fluid under pressure through the small passage 43 communicating with the main entry passage 4.4. This latter may communicate with any convenient outside source, as with the pipe 48 through the valve 46, operated by the handle 47, as shown in Fig. 1.

After the, bottle has been filled and the stopper S has been placed within the placing ring as shown in Fig. 5, the operator by depressing the foot lever 27, causes the valve head 22 to turn from the position shown in Figs. 5 and 3 to the position shown in Fig. 4. This of course first cuts off the. passage 44 and the incoming fluid, but without releasing the pressure on the bottle, and distending the sealing ring 41. It then brings the stopper cap S into the same'sealed chamber where the head of the bottle is, and directly over the same. It will be understood that the ring 37 contained in the valve head 22 is of such form that its meredepression upon the stopper with sufficient force, fastens the stopper on the bottle head. The relative motion nece'ssaryfor this is accomplished b the liftingof the bottle head'from the position shown in Fig. 3 and Fig. 5, to that shown in Fig. 4,-and it will be understood that the magnet 40 may recede upwardly within the ring 37 as the pressure is applied. The mechanism for lifting the bottle for this sealing operation is as follows:

Referring now to Figs. 1, 6 and 10; there is a horizontal shaft 20 which may be constantly driven by a belt on the pulley 21, and

the shaft 20 has splined thereon a cam 65 mounted on a sleeve 66, as shown in Fig. 8,

shaft but not to turn thereon.

this sleeve 66 being adapted to slide on this The bottle supporting table 19, by its stem 51, is carnied in a vertically reciprocating sleeve 50, which normally stands in the position shown in Fig. 6. Vithin the sleeve 50 there is screwed a plug 59 supporting a downwardly depending stud 60 and its head 61 normally held down by a strong spring 62 having a certain predetermined power. The stud 60 is preferably square in section, as shown in Fig. 10, and stands directly over the cam 65. At the point where it protrudes from the plug 59, the latter has an inclined face 64 adapted also to engage the cam 65. Consequently as the cam 66 rotates it will raise both the stud 60 and the plug 59 and sleeve 50, and therefore the gripping ring 52 and the platform 19, until the pressure on the bottle induces on platform 19 a pressure sufficient to overcome the spring 62.. Thereupon the cam in further rising will lift the stud 60 against spring 62, but not the plug 59, but on the contrary will slide on the inclined face 64, thereby pushing the cam 65 ()"61 to the left in Fig. 6 against the compression spring 67 until the catch wheel 68 on the sleeve 66 passes over the spring supported dog 69 (see Fig. 1), which will thereaftei hold the cam in a position where it may turn without affecting the bottle raising platform. The cam may be given more complete clearance either by the form of the rear face of the dog 69, or by the enlarged bottom of the stud 60 as shown in Fig. 6, causing the same to move farther to the left than its normal position, as it slides on the face 60. It will be understood that this last described raising of the platform 19 and the bottle B will have caused the fixing of the stopper S on the top of the bottle and that immediately upon the cam 65 being released from the pin 60 and plug 59 of the reciprocating sleeve 50, the latter, with the platform 19 and the bottle may be dropped readily out of the cap fixing mechanism. Meanwhile, when the head 61 of the stud 60 rises, it pushes upward a pin 63 and tilts and releases the gripping ring 52, as shown in Fig. 6, by removing it from the normal position of frictional contact.

The cam 65 is replaced in its normal position for the operation of fixing the bottle cap by releasing the head 68 of its sleeve 66 from the dog 69 in any convenient way, as

by the foot lever 27 striking the pin 71 on a rod pivoted to the outer end of the catch dog 69 as shown in Fig. 1. Of course, the particular means of depressing the cap feeding tube 18, the particular means of efiecting the preliminary rising of the platform 19, and the particular method of manipulating the inlet valve for the liquid and gas to the sealing chamber, are not essential parts of my invention, and I have shown in the drawing merely an illustration of operative mechanism for these purposes.

It will be understood from the foregoing that the machine is automatic in all its operation (except manipulating the valve 17), and particularly that the bottle is capped automatically by machine power and under thereupon the bottle is filled through the passage 44: under pressure. Meanwhile, the cap supply tube 18 descends and places a stopper on the holding magnet 10, and within the placing ring 37, and entirely within the valve cylinder 22 as shown in Fig. 5. lVhen the foot lever 27 is depressed against spring 28 to turn the valve cylinder 22 over to the position shown in Fig. 4, the fluid supply is cut off automatically and the stopper S is placed accurately over the mouth of the bottle, and thereupon the cam 65 is brought into play to further raise the bottleand stopper against the placing ring 37.

I regard it as one of the principal parts of my invention to provide for filling the bottle before introducing the stopper into the sealing chamber, and to introduce the stoppers one by one and automatically. This latter operation, taken with the arrangement of stacking the caps in the tube 18, does away with all the complicated machinery heretofore used for selecting and introducing caps into such machines. It is obvious that the carrier tubes 18 may be filled immediately at the time of the original making or packing of the caps. Other advantages of the invention will readily occur to those familiar with the art.

Having thus described my invention and illustrated its use, what I claim is the following:

1. A bottling machine comprising a casing having a receiving chamber adapted to receive and seal a bottle-head therein, a liquid supply duct, and a valve device adapted to both connect said duct with the receiving chamber and receive a bottle sealing cap from outside and introduce it into said chamber in position to clamp on the head of the bottle, substantially as described.

2. In a bottling machine, the combination with a casing having a chamber adapted to receive and seal a bottle-head therein, a fluid supply duct and a revoluble valve device 4. A bottle filling and capping machine comprising a chamber adapted to receive and seal a bottle-head therein, and having.

ports to introduce liquid under pressure therein, means to lift the bottle thereln for sealing, and a valve device adapted to receive a bottle-cap from outside and introduce it into said" chamber over the bottlehead and under pressure.

- a combined fluid 5. In a bottle filling and capping machine,

means for lntroducing fluid and sealing caps under pressure, including the combination with a chamber for sealing the bottle-head, of a barrel-shaped revol-uble valve device adapted to carry a bottle sealing cap into the chamber and having means for affixing the cap on the bottle-head.

6. In a bottle filling and capping machine, the combination with a casing having a fill- .ing chamber adapted to be closed by the bottle, of a revoluble member having a pocket containing a fixing tool and adapted to open alternately to the outside and to the inside of said casing for introducing caps into said chamber.

7. In a bottle filling and capping machine and sealing cap valve device comprising a casing having a cylindrical chamber with twoopenings, a rotary plug therein having a fluid port and a pocket adapted to receive astopper at one of they openings of the casing and carry it to the other opening.

8. In a bottle filling and capping machlne,

the combination with a casing having ports to introduce liquid under pressure and a chamber adapted to be closed by the bottle, of means to introduce sealing caps into said chamber comprising a rotary valve device adapted to open alternately to the outside of the casing and the inside of the chamber and having devices for receiving and placing the caps and-for opening the liquid ports for access to the bottle;

9. A bottle filling and capping machine having means to hold the bottle head at a predetermined position relative to the filling and capping devices, means to fill the bottle under pressure and to thereafter introduce sealing cap into the compression chamber iwithout removing the bottle.

'10. A bottle filling and capping machine.

fcomprising a casing with proper ports to i introduce liquid under pressure into a chamber sealed by the bottle mouth, a cap aifixing mechanism mounted to receive a cap from outside of the casing and then carry it bodily into the sealed chamber of the casing over the bottle mouth to be aflixed by a movement of the bottle. I

11. In a bottle filling and capping machine, the combination with a revolving member partly forming a chamber closed by the bottle, and adapted to first introduce liquidunder pressure therein and afterward place a sealing cap thereon, and a bottle lifting device adapted to first place the bottle head in said sealed chamber and afterward by separate motion lift it further to seal the cap, substantially. as described.

12. Ina bottle capping machine the combination with a casing having a chamber closed and sealed by the-mouth of the bottle, of devices for introducing a sealing cap into said chamber after the bottle is filled and applying it to the bottle, a lifting table for the bottle and means for giving the bottle an initial lift to place the bottle head in said,

sert a head in said chamber with a predetermined lifting effort, and h. ving means to further lift thebottle to apply a sealing cap by a predetermined pressure after the cap has been introduced into said sealed chamber.

14. In a bottle filling and capping machine, the combination with a casing having a chamber adapted to receive the bottle head, of means for first filling the bottle andthen introducing a sealing cap into said chamber, and means for automatically placing the bottle head within said chamber and afterward further elevating it to aflix the cap, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunder signed my name.

FRANCIS W. H. CLAY. 

